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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Superman #215 and Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #91 (Apr 1969)

After far too long, I'm finally sitting
down to inaugurate this blog. Like all the comics I will be writing
about in this newer blog, I have vivid memories of these issues.
But, after more than forty years, my memories were imperfect. In
fact, I had conflated the two issues considered here into one, hence
the double-issue post to begin with.

In my memory, there was a time when
Superman married Lois Lane – actually, one of the many times that
happened during the Silver Age of Comics, where “Imaginary Tales” of their marriage became practically a bimonthly staple.
“Imaginary Tales” were the Silver-Age DC equivalent of their
later “Elseworlds” semi-imprint, whose tag-line – “[H]eroes
are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and
places – some that have existed, or might have existed, and others
that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist” – would serve here just
as well. The particular story that stood out the most for me was the
cover image of Superman and a raven-haired little girl, clad also in
blue and red, mourning before a tombstone for Lois Lane; Lois
being blinded and Superman crafting an engagement ring out of a nut
when he proposed to her on the spot; a raven-haired teenaged girl
continuing the super-heroic legacy of her father. I would think of
these vivid images from time to time over the years. I'm not going
to try to self-psychoanalyze as to why.

A few
months ago, when I was putting together a back-issue order with an
on-line vendor and was coming up a few dollars shy of the $50 order
threshold to qualify for free shipping, something brought those
images freshly to mind and moved me to explore the wonderful Time Machine at
the website, Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics,
which allows you to view the comics that were on the stands during
any given month. Knowing only the general time frame, most likely
the late 1960s-early 1970s, I stepped my way through the months until
I hit paydirt in the DC Comics cover-dated April 1969. There was that well-remembered cover. A copy of the issue
could be had from my vendor in decent condition for a decent price,
just enough to push me over the $50, and I placed my order.

Those
were the events out of which was born the idea for this blog.

Since
the free shipping offered by my vendor is at an economy rate, it's
not terribly fast – which is generally okay with me. It was ten
days to two weeks before I got my box of back issues (mostly filling
in gaps in runs that I was prepping to have library bound) and looked
at the comic with great anticipation. Whereupon I quickly perceived
that something wasn't quite right. Yes, there was that
well-remembered cover, beautifully rendered by Neal Adams during his
earliest days with DC Comics when he did a lot
of covers that stand out in my mind, but as I read the story inside
the other images I remembered were not to be found. There was no
blind Lois; there was no raven-haired teenager but only a little
girl, at most four or five years of age. Instead there was a story
of young wife and mother Lois being killed leaving Superman to raise
their daughter himself, and him ultimately finding and marrying the
Lois of an alternate Earth and living happily every after.

There
obviously must be another story out there. So it was back to the
Time Machine, where,
oddly enough during the very same month of April 1969
there was another comic, in the series devoted to Superman's
Girl Friend, Lois Lane, that
burst into my memory immediately when my eyes found it. The first
time, as soon as I saw that “tombstone” cover, my search was
over. I didn't look down one line to see a cover that is almost as
memorable, portraying Lois Lane with a hunch-backed “monstrosity”
in a tale of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Memories
flooded back – blind Lois being courted by the hunch-back while she
was in mourning for her dead husband Superman.

It so
happened that I needed some other issues to complete another binding
project – it seems like I'm always discovering something new that
needs to go in whatever volume I'm just about ready to send off –
and, this blog having already formed itself in my mind, there were a
few other comics from my childhood I had zeroed in on as candidates
for these retrospectives, so in short order I had another box of
comics coming from my back-issue vendor.

It
would be fascinating to know the story behind these two issues,
published a week apart in February 1969, each presenting an
“imaginary story” of the marriage of Superman and Lois Lane in
very different ways.

Here follow overviews of the
two issues that so impressed themselves on my
seven-years-and-a-couple-of-months-old self:

We often think of the art on modern comics being so much better than
during the Silver Age – and frankly it is in many respects – but
the limitation was not generally due to the artistic ability of the
illustrator but rather imposed by the medium and printing process,
cheap newsprint and a simple four-color palette. Covers were were on
somewhat slicker paper and could result in bolder effects. I'm sure
that the fact that the cover was meant to hook the prospective buyer
also played its role. But the fact is that, in my opinion, the best
of Silver Age covers stand right up there beside modern-day comics.
They could be equally powerful and moving, as in this case. Look at
the subtle gradation in color in the sky, apparently a setting sun.
Look at the sadness evident on Superman's face, even in profile, the
slightly hunched shoulders, the single tear falling from his eye.
Word balloons – a rarer feature today – give us, along with the
cover type, some hint of the story to come: little Lanie asking her
father, “Daddy … will we ever see Mommy again?” No tear is
evident on her face, but there is a tissue clutched in her little
hand. Yes, we had the promise of “a GREAT IMAGINARY NOVEL
“SUPERMAN'S TRAGICMARRIAGE!”

One other comment regarding this cover: Note the dates on the
tombstone – “1938-1969.” Lois Lane first appeared in Action
Comics #1, cover-date June 1938.

There are actually two stories in this comic. I have virtually no
memory of the backup, which is a reprint from the early 1950s. It's
not why I sought out this comic, so I'm not going to deal with it
here.

The story under consideration comes in two parts, a standard practice
in the Silver Age, even though the overall length of the story is but
fifteen pages. And it was a complete story, with a beginning,
a middle, and an end. Typically, as in Mike's Amazing World,
the title of the first part is today considered to serve for the
story overall, but each part had in reality its own separate title –
or at least subsequent parts merited their own subtitles, whichever
way you want to look at it.

During this period, creators were rarely credited in the pages of the
comics. Mike's Amazing World is of great use here, as also for on-sale dates. I know artistic styles well enough that it was apparent to
me that the story art was by Curt Swan, who basically established the Silver Age iconography of
Superman. That Neal Adams illustrated the cover was, incidentally,
pretty apparent to me as well – Adams was my first favorite comic
book artist. I depend on Mike to know that the Swan's pencils
were inked by Jack Abel, that the story was written by Otto Binder, and that the issue was edited by Mort Weisinger.

I seem to remember a distinct moment
when I realized that the flowers below the tombstone formed letters
and that the title was not simply “LOIS LANE … DEAD ...”

The story opens at Lois' funeral,
attended by her and Superman's closest friends and family. Little
Laney doesn't understand why she can't “say goodbye to [her] Mommy
for the last time.” Superman explains to their daughter that it's
a “symbolic burial,”
because there is no body:

So Superman is now a single parent. Laney
has inherited her father's powers, but is an untrained, impetuous
child whom he fears will be too much for anyone else to handle.
(Jonathan and Martha Kent were a rare couple, by any measure!)

There
is one chamber of the Fortress, however, that he bars her from,
leaving a “Super-robot” on guard as he leaves Laney to play while
he returns to his day job as Clark Kent of the Daily
Planet, still unknown to the
world as Superman, having to maintain a stiff upper lip because he's
determined that his secret identity will remain secret even from his
closest friends.

“In
the months that follow, the Man of Might's
one real happiness is returning to his Fortress
… and his daughter …,” and we see scenes of them playing inside
and out, with Krypto the Super-dog, building a giant snowman, taking
supersonic sleigh-rides ….

Then
the story turns a little bizarre.

Yes,
presumably Lois-bot was “fully functional.” She just needed to
be recharged ….

Several
days later, it seems Superman's nightmare might be coming to an end.
Called upon to judge a beauty contest, secretly thinking to himself
that none could possibly hold a candle to Lois, Superman beholds the
impossible:

Yes, the Man of Steel just let two of his greatest enemies, Brainiac and Luthor, get away
with murder right in front of his very eyes!

Can't say I blame him, though....

Just this once....

Little
does he know, however, that back at the Fortress curiosity is getting the
better of little Laney....

As Part II takes up, Laney
distracts the robotic guard:

That Red Kryptonite was really pesky stuff ... and a much-used plot device.

Unable
to resist finding out whether this world's Lois still lives, Superman discovers that she does. And she is not
married. She is
just as reckless, however, and he has to save her life. Some things never change, from dimension to dimension.

Contrary
to comic book expectations, they don't start duking it out. Rather,
they come to an agreement. It turns out that this world's Superman
has never considered marriage, being “too busy.” Nevertheless,
the wedding of Superman and Lois takes place ….

And
they live happily ever after …

… Until
Laney spills the beans. Actually, that doesn't happen, but I bet it
would!

Although
this cover is also by Neal Adams and I recognized it immediately when
I made my second search as described above, it had not impressed
itself upon my memories nearly as deeply – although paradoxically
many of the story elements and images from inside the issue did merge
with my memories of the Superman
comic that came out a mere week before – arguably even overwhelmed
them. Good though it might be, this cover does not rise to the level
of the other, nor does it convey the power of the story it graces.

This
time we got a full-length, 23-page
story, “LOVEISBLIND!”
Although neither Mike
nor either of the other sources I checked (Grand Comics Database
and Comic Book Database)
list a writer, the pencils were again by Curt Swan, this time under
the inks of Mike
Esposito.

After
a splash page opener that is only symbolically part of the story –
i.e. it depicts a scene that does not occur in the issue, a
mysterious woman in black appears yet again, as she does every month,
to place flowers on the grave of Superman – just as a hoodlum
throws a bomb at the monument, determined to destroy it in revenge
for Superman's putting him into prison fifteen years ago.

At her daughter's behest, Lois tells again of the day she was present
when Superman was foiling a theft, when:

But
Earthly medical science cannot restore Lois' sight. They marry –
he in his Clark Kent identity – and the Man of Steel builds his
bride a home on a remote, secluded beach …

I
wonder if those nurses at Metropolis Maternity Hospital put two and
two together? – the presence of Superman rather than Clark Kent
pacing in the waiting room as the “Kent baby” is born; that
newborn's precocious ability to jump even in her crib; Superman's
stammering astonishment, “The baby … he's a girl?
I mean – it's wonderful! Uh … Clark will be beside himself with
joy!” – ? It's obvious: Superman
is cuckolding Clark Kent! The scandal!

Both
of these tales are wonderful examples of Silver Age DC story-telling,
in which story logic takes a bit of a back seat to bathos. I mean,
really
– I mean, if the very idea of Superman building a robot to replace
his little girl's dead mother were not enough, then he goes and
forgets that it's a robot and starts falling in love with it? –
Having taken his daughter to the alternate Earth's Fortress of
Solitude, he nonetheless forgets that world's Superman and
impulsively proposes to that world's Lois Lane? – He doesn't
consider that alternate Lois might wonder not just who little
“orphan” Laney's mother might be, who looked “very much like”
herself, but how
the little girl came by super-powers just like Superman's – whom
she calls “Daddy!” – Alternate-Superman, on the other hand, is gonna have some 'splainin' to do when Aunt Lucy (and doubtless other friends) start wondering whatever became of that little girl...? ... In the Lois
Lane
story, blind Lois seems to get around very well most of the time, but that's relatively minor. Maybe not so minor is that it's stated flat out that when Superman marries Lois in his Clark
Kent identity, she “is none the wiser,” and yet she is later in the
hospital to give birth to Clark Kent's baby! ... And I'm sure other
instances of Silver Age goofiness could be found. But that's part of
the charm of these comics from my childhood. It didn't matter. I
read them voraciously. Over and over again.

Both
these stories affected me deeply enough that elements of them
remained with me, percolating to the surface of my memories from time
to time, however imperfect those memories may have been. On
rereading, I must say that of the two stories, despite the Superman
cover being hands down superior, story-wise that distinction goes to
the Lois Lane
story by an unknown author. There's a real feeling of tragedy here,
and we are left ultimately to wonder if Superlass ever was able to
find a cure for her father and reunite her parents.

I
must confess one thing, which reading quickly disabused me of –
when I first reaquired these issues, and for the first time in forty
years realized that it was actually two
similarly-themed stories published virtually concurrently, I wondered
if there was a way for the stories to be connected, i.e. for the
story with the older daughter to be a sequel to that with the
younger. Of course, there's not. But it is interesting that they
came out so closely together, even by the same penciller, from the
same editor – I don't believe by the same writer – and again, I
would love to know what the background, the genesis
of these stories was. That it was coincidence beggars belief.

*
* *

Besides the stories and ads contained in the comics, there were of course the wonderful letter-columns. It was an honor I attained only once to have my name printed in a DC comic letter-col, in Superboy #202. Not that I really sent in that many letters. But many other fans did, commenting on stories, praising stories, criticising stories, offering their own suggestions for stories, pointing out "goofs" in stories (that the editors would as often as not deftly argue their way around). I may take notice of these letter-columns from time to time, depending totally on my whim. But in Superman #215 the letter column took up only two-thirds of the page, with the bottom third printing what I believe to have been an annual requirement in the old days: A "Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation." The main thing I want to notice here is a very sobering fact. According to the filing for this title dated 1 October 1968 and printed here, the "Average No. Copies [Paid Circulation] Each Issue During the Preceding 12 Months" was ... a whopping 636,400. Whoa. According to the website ICv2, which among many other things offers monthly coverage and analysis of comic book sales, the "Est.Qty." of the issue of Superman published in April 2012 (#8) was 64,486. And that figure is actually an estimate of the number of issues invoiced by the monopolizing Diamond Distributors to comic specialty shops during the month. There is no way to know how many of those actually were purchased by consumers. So, about 10%. Lo, how the mighty have fallen.

I have no comment to make on this at this time other than that it saddens me. But it can't take away my memories of a time when every store it seemed, from convenience store to grocery store to drug store to news stand, had its own spinner-rack full of goodness.

* * *

… And
this is how I envision this newer blog to go. Part synopsis, part
commentary, part analysis, spiced with a little snark and mild
irreverence, but pretty much all
revelry in the greatness of these comics in my childhood memories.

Mainly,
I hope to bring others some degree of the enjoyment I had reading
these comics as a kid, and revisting them as an adult.

This
has been quite a time-consuming endeavor, though. So don't expect
this blog to be updated terribly often. Well, maybe a bit more often
for the next couple of months, while the University is in its summer
break, and I have the luxury of more time for fun foolishness like
this. Sure, I am teaching – but it's all on-line until the
fall semester takes back up mid-late August.

But
what do I have planned for the future? Well, once I came up with the
idea for this blog, all kinds
of comics started coming to mind. Here are just a few I plan to cover ... eventually:

Superboy
#171

Adventure
Comics
#369-370

Aquaman#38

Aquaman
#40-48

… and
the one I actually intended
to launch this blog with, for April Fool's Day, the great Action
Comics
#388. A month-and-a-half later, well, that
didn't happen, so I'm slating that one for next year.

2 comments:

"Love Is Blind" was written by Robert Kanigher, who neverlet a simile go unused if he could help it: "like a blazing bolt of lightning," "like an elemental fury gone berserk." Captions mentioning a heart pounding madly or a heart melting are Kanigher signs as well.

About Me!

a.k.a. "absentminded- professor" -
Professor of Early European History at a small state university in Louisiana, married, one son, three cats. More to the point, a lifelong fan of heroic tales of all stripes, especially the greatest heroic tale ever told.

The ideas and opinions expressed herein are entirely my own, for better or worse. Images from other sites and scans from old comics are used under the principle of "fair use" and are Copyright (c) their respective owners. The ideas, opinions, and content presented in blogs and podcasts I follow are their own, I may or may not agree with them, and I claim no responsibility for them other than that I generally find more there that I am interested in than not.